The design of new low-cost carbon based electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) will be discussed. An efficient hydrothermal approach for the synthesis of functional nanostructured carbons was developed based on the use of resorcinol resins and sacrificial templates. Low temperature hydrothermal carbonization was carried out from a slurry of resorcinol, melamine1 and iron acetate, which served as precursors for the formation of the carbon scaffold, N-functional groups and iron centres, respectively. The mixture was blended with a sacrificial polymer as template, and with a commercial carbon black as a conductive scaffold. The partially carbonized material was then further annealed at high temperature in N2/NH3 gas mixtures to obtain the final carbon electrode materials. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) were used to characterize the morphology and metal-content, respectively, while X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to investigate bulk and surface composition of the materials. Results show that the resulting carbon is highly graphitic, with iron-rich particles mostly encapsulated in the carbon phase. Nitrogen is present predominantly as pyridinic and pyrrolic N-centers. The materials were tested in the form of powders as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solution2 and for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acid solution. Rotating disk electrode (RDE) studies indicate good activity based on determinations of onset potentials and electron numbers involved in these cathodic processes. The role of the black carbon scaffold is discussed as part of this report.

Synthesis and performance studies of N/Fe nanocomposite carbon electrodes for energy conversion applications.

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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